New York mayor: Biden failing on migrant crisis
Eric Adams, a Democrat, lashes out at the White House as he places new curbs on asylum seekers
NEW YORK’S Democrat mayor Eric Adams accused the Biden administration of failing to manage the migrant crisis as he placed new restrictions on asylum seekers being bussed to his city.
The intervention comes as another massive “migrant caravan” of people is marching towards the Us-mexico border while emergency talks take place between the White House and the Mexican president.
Migrants crossing the Mexican border into overwhelmed southern US states have been routinely bussed to northern and often Democrat cities in recent months.
Mr Adams introduced a ban on buses arriving unannounced as he joined the Democrat mayors of Chicago and Denver in demanding the Biden administration intervene.
“We cannot continue to do the federal government’s job,” Mr Adams said at a joint press conference.
“The federal government said to New York City: ‘We’re not going to do our job – you do our job. You take care of 4,000 people a week, Eric, you and your team,’” he added.
Last week, 14 busloads of migrants arrived in New York on a single night, with nowhere to go.
Mr Adams said US cities had reached a tipping point, while the US government stood by instead of helping ease the flow of undocumented people left on the streets. Attempts to set up meetings with the administration had been fruitless, he said.
“It baffles me. I have to keep hammering away at this and I’m really pleased that we’re now getting a chorus of other cities that are joining us.”
“That coalition is going to continue to grow because these cities deserve better,” he continued.
“Cities should not be handling national problems.”
In an attempt to control the flow, Mr Adams said he would impose tough restrictions on bus companies and threatened to jail operators who do not comply.
They will now have to give 32 hours’ notice of their arrival, and drop-off times will be limited.
Police have been given powers to seize buses from operators who defy Mr Adams’ executive order.
“We cannot allow buses with people needing our help to arrive without warning at any hour of day and night,” Mr Adams said.
According to New York officials, more than 161,000 migrants have arrived in the city in the last 18 months.
The New York measures echo those already introduced by Chicago. Texas sidestepped the curbs by instructing operators to drop migrants off on the outskirts of the city, creating chaos, according to Chicago’s mayor Brandon Johnson.
The city, which has received more than 26,000 migrants, was “at breaking point” he added.
“Our local economies are not designed and built to respond to this kind of crisis. We are literally building the system as we go along.”
Denver mayor Mike Johnston said the city had received more than 35,000 migrants and was accommodating 4,000.
The White House defended its handling of the crisis, saying it had helped 10,000 migrants apply for work permits. The surge at the US border has reached record highs after Mr Biden loosened border restrictoins imposed by Donald Trump.
A caravan of an estimated 6,000 migrants walking through Central America to the US is likely to exacerbate tension at the crossing. The caravans, often promoted by migration rights organisations, were a feature of Mr Trump’s initial border controls.
The latest caravan started marching last week as the White House arranged unexpected talks with the Mexican government during the Christmas holidays.
No official policies were announced, but, according to the White House, the talks were “productive”, with Mexico agreeing to crack down on smugglers.
‘The federal government said to New York City: we’re not going to do our job, you do our job’